Victorian Modern: One Hundred and Eleven Years of Modern Architecture in Victoria, Australia

Robin Boyd published his first book ‘Victorian Modern: 111 years of modern architecture in Victoria’ in 1947. Just prior to his death in 1971 Robin was in discussions with publishers to arrange a new edition of this important and very influential book. Unfortunately with Robin’s untimely death the new edition did not proceed and the book has continued to be ‘’out of print’ and unavailable for the past 60 years.

2011 is the 40th anniversary of Robin’s death and to acknowledge this and his significant contribution to design culture and intellectual pedigree of the state of Victoria the Robin Boyd Foundation have published a commemorative edition of ‘Victorian Modern’, which will be a facsimile of the original.

In a manner that characterised Robin’s future writings and lectures, ‘Victorian Modern’ first reviews the history and development of architectural design in Victoria before proposing an approach for the future – in this case ‘The Victorian Type’ a well designed and affordable modern home. ‘Victorian Modern’ was the first book to identify and document the importance of architects such as Harold Desbrowe-Annear, Robert Haddon and Walter Burley Griffin. In their innovative designs that responded to materiality, landscape, place and the Australian lifestyle Robin identified the qualities that he felt should be the basis for development of the next generation of houses to be designed for the 1950s. Design qualities that still resonate and influence us today as the basis for good design.

“Victorian Modern’ is a very beautiful book. It was designed by Robin using a number of different typefaces, presented on a variety of paper stocks, and illustrated with contemporary photographs together with Robin’s own delightful sketches. It is indeed rare to find a copy today, as it is so cherished by those fortunate to have retained their original or those lucky enough to source a copy second-hand. For those who know of it without a copy it is highly sought after and deserving to be introduced to current generations who may not yet be aware of it.

The initial print run is 1000 copies and each copy is numbered.